Grain drier and conveyor



Nov. 6, 1956 1.. E. KECHELY ET AL 2,769,245

GRAIN DRIER AND CONVEYOR Filed April 15, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet l Lee E. Keche/y' W/'// l?- Brandon I INVENTORS,

BY wi fim iI I I i Nov 6, 1956 Filed April 15, 1954 L. E. KECHELY ET AL GRA-IN DRIER AND CONVEYOR lllllllilllll' 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 L as E. Keche/y Will R. Br0l7d0fl INVENTORS.

United States Patent GRAIN DRIER AND CONVEYOR Lee E. Kechely, Phillipsburg, Kans., and Will R. Brandon, Republican City, Nebr.

Application April 13, 1954, Serial No. 422,784

1 Claim. (Cl. 34-57) Our invention relates to improvements in grain driers and conveyors of the type in which the grain is drawn into a heated drier chamber and discharged therefrom by a motor driven suction and blower fan.

The primary object of our invention is to provide a portable device of the type indicated including efiicient means for heating the drier chamber either by heat from the exhaust manifold of an internal combustion motor, or by an electric current, or by both.

Another object is to provide in such a device means for varying the position of the discharge relative to the intake to vary the duration of the drying operation.

Still another object is to provide in such a device for supporting the drier chamber and parts associated therewith either by legs, or by hanger means attachable to a bin or truck body.

Another object is to provide a device for accomplishing the above which is simple in construction and inexpensive to manufacture, operate and service.

Other and subordinate objects, together with the precise nature of our improvements, will be readily understood when the succeeding description and claim are read with reference to the drawings accompanying and forming part of this specification.

In said drawings:

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of our improved drier and conveyor in the preferred embodiment thereof;

Figure 2 is a view in plan with the motor eliminated, the motor supporting platform shown in dotted lines, and the heat conductor tube detached from the exhaust manifold of the motor;

Figure 3 is an enlarged view in section of the heat transfer chamber and its attaching clip;

Figure 4 is an enlarged view in vertical longitudinal section taken on the line 44 of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is an enlarged view in vertical transverse section taken on the line 55 of Figure l, and

Figure 6 is an enlarged fragmentary view in vertical section taken on the line 6--6 of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings by numerals, the drier chamber 1 of our invention is formed by a circular, fiat fan casing 3 comprising upright sides 5 connected at the bottom of said casing by an arcuate circumferential web 6. A transversely split, annular band forming the circumferential wall 7 of said casing 3 is rotatably mounted in circumferential edge grooves 11 in the sides 5 for adjustment circumferentially of said casing 3 for a purpose presently explained. Terminal lugs 13 on said wall 7 with traversing screws 14 provide for clamping said wall 7 in said grooves 11 in adjusted position. A rotary suction and blower fan 15 is rotatably mounted in the casing 3 with an axial drive shaft 17 extending through said sides 5.

A rectangular supporting frame 19 for the casing 3 is provided comprising a pair of hollow side bars 21 between which said casing 3 is secured by attachment of the sides 5 thereto in any suitable manner, not shown.

2,769,245 Patented Nov. 6, 1956 "ice Journal bearings 23 for the drive shaft 17 are bolted, as at 25, on said bars 21.

Corner legs 27 are provided for the frame 19 so that the device may be supported on a floor or the like. The legs 27 comprise upper and lower telescopically adjustable sections 29, 31. Setscrews 33 in the lower sections 31 provide for holding said sections 29, 31 in adjusted position to vary the height of the frame 19 and the casing 3 from the floor or ground. The legs 27 are detachably attached to the frame 19 by means of corner sockets 35 depending from said frame and in which the upper ends of the sections 29 of said legs 27 are detachably secured by setscrews 36. The legs 27 are detachable for a particular purpose presently seen.

A motor drive for the fan 15 is provided comprising a suitable internal combustion motor 37 and a belt and pulley drive 39 at one side of the casing 3 and from said motor to one end of the drive shaft 17.

The motor 37 is mounted for adjustment away from the drive shaft 17 for belt tightening purposes by means of a motor supporting platform 41 suitably secured on a pair of extension bar sections 43 of the side bars 21 projecting horizontally out of corresponding ends of said side bars 21 with said platform tying said sections 43 together. A threaded bolt 45 extends through a side lug 47 in one section 43 and bears against one end of one side bar 21 for adjusting the platform 41 horizontally and consequently the motor 37 away from said shaft 17.

A flexible grain intake suction tube for the chamber 1, and designated 49, has a discharge end 50 suitably attached to one side 5 of the casing 3 in communication with said chamber 1 above the horizontal center and at one side of the vertical center of the chamber 1. With the other end 51 of said tube 49 inserted in a supply of grain, the fan 15 will draw grain by suction through said tube to feed the grain into said chamber 1. A suitable intake control valve '53 is provided on the free end of said tube 49 for varying the intake, as may be desired.

A flexible grain discharge blower tube 55 is attached at one end to and extends from the circumferential wall 7 in communication with the drier chamber 1 at the side of the vertical center of said casing 3 opposite the discharge end of the intake suction tube 49. The discharge tube 53 is connected at one end to said wall 7 by a nipple 57 on said wall and a rotary coupling 59 between said tube 53 and nipple 59 provides for rotation of said tube 53 to position a terminal gooseneck nozzle 61 thereon so as to variably direct discharge of grain from said gooseneck 61.

The heating means comprises a flexible heat conducting suction tube 63 having one end connected to one side of the casing 3 in communication with the drier chamber 1. A flat, rectangular heat transfer chamber 65 of suitable heat absorbing material is attached by a heat outlet nipple 67 at one end thereof to the other end of the conducting suction tube 63, and is provided with a clamp 69 on one side thereof for detachably attaching said chamber 65 flatwise to the exhaust manifold 66 of the motor 37 to absorb heat from said manifold and transfer the same to said conducting tube 63. An electric heating coil 71 is fastened in said chamber 65 by binding posts 73 extending through the ends of said transfer chamber for attachment in a suitable electric circuit, not shown, so that said element 65 may be heated by electrically generated heat. A vent 75 in said transfer chamber 65 closed by a pivoted flap 77 provides for regulating the temperature in said transfer chamber 65. A similar vent 79 in one side 5 of the casing 3 closed by a pivoted flap 81 provides for regulating the temperature in the drier chamber 1.

Hanger means on the frame 19 provides for clamping said frame to a bin, or truck body, when the legs 27 are detached. This means comprises a pair of depending jaw bars 83 fixed on the ends of the side bars 21 opposite the extension sections 43, and a pair of right angled end jaw bars 85 slidably adjustable into and out of the side bars 21 into and from clamping relation to the fixed jaw bars 83. Setscrews 87 in said side bars 21 retain the jaw bars 85 in adjusted position.

As will now be seen the chamber 1, fan 15, motor 37, belt pulley connection 39, tubes 49, 55, 63 and the heat transfer chamber 65 and frame 19 comprise a composite grain drier and conveyor unit adapted to be supported by the legs 27, or to be clamped in hanging positicn to a bin, or truck body, as may be found desirable. With the suction and blower fan 15 operating, grain drawn into the drying chamber 1 is agitated by said fan and dried in the drier chamber I quickly and thoroughly by heat drawn into said chamber 1 by said fan 15. The dried grain is forced by air blast from said fan 15 out of the grain discharge blower tube 61 for transfer to a suitable receptacle. By adjusting the circumferential wall 7 to adjust the nipple connected end of the discharge tube 55 toward or from the discharge end of the intake tube 49, the duration of the drying operation in said chamber 1 may be varied. This follows because some grain is drawn into the drying chamber 1 behind each blade of the fan 15 and forced out of the nipple connected end of the discharge tube 55 ahead of that blade as it revolves past said ends, and by varying the distance between said ends of the intake and discharge tubes 49, 55 the duration of the drying operation of such grain is varied notwithstanding that other grain may accumulate and dwell in the drying chamber 1 before it is discharged out of said chamber. The temperature under which the grain is dried in said chamber 1 may be varied both in said chamber 1 and at the heat transfer chamber 65 by opening or closing the vents 79, 75. The grain may be dried by heat from the manifold 66, or by electrically generated heat, optionally, or by both, in which case the coil 71 acts as a booster or heat augmenting coil in the heat transfer chamber 65. The reason for the tubes 49, 55, 63 being flexible will readily be apparent.

The foregoing will, it is believed, suffice to impart a clear understanding of our invention, without further explanation.

Manifestly, the invention, as described, is susceptible of modification, without departing from the inventive concept, and right is herein reserved to such modifications as fall within the scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

A grain drier and conveyor comprising a frame, supporting means for said frame, a circular fan casing on said frame including fixed sides and a circumferential wall and forming a drier chamber, a suction and blower fan in said chamber, a grain intake suction tube having an end opening through one side of said casing into said chamber for feeding grain into said chamber under suction created by said fan, a grain discharge blower tube having one end attached to and opening through said wall into said chamber for discharge of dried grain out of said chamber by air blast created by said fan, means for introducing heated air into said chamber to dry the grain, means mounting said wall on said sides for adjustment on said sides of the casing circumferentially of said casing to vary the distance between said ends of said tubes to vary the duration of some of the grain in said chamber, and a drive motor operatively connected to said fan, said discharge blower tube being flexible to compensate for adjustment of said wall.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 700,153 Reynolds May 13, 1902 899,658 Carlton Sept. 29, 1908 1,900,213 Wenberg Mar. 7, 1933 FOREIGN PATENTS 321,452 Great Britain Nov. 11, 1929 

